Cloud-based building management system

ABSTRACT

A method of remotely configuring one or more building system components at a building site uses a cloud-based server remote from the building site. The cloud-based server receives information from an intelligent gateway at the building site that identifies each of one or more building system components at the building site. The cloud-based server is used to create a site configuration that is based at least in part on the identified information for each of the one or more building system components. The site configuration is then downloaded from the cloud-based server to the intelligent gateway such that the intelligent gateway is able to pass configuration information to one or more local controllers that control operation of the one or more building system components.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to building management systems.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to cloud-basedbuilding management systems.

BACKGROUND

Building management systems may be used to control operations of avariety of different building management system components. In manycases, a building management system includes a centralized supervisorybuilding management system controller that is used to control theoverall building management system at the building site. Configuringand/or managing such systems from a remote site can be a challenge. Whatwould be desirable is a cloud-based building management system that iseasier to configure and/or manage from a remote location.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates generally to cloud-based buildingmanagement systems. In one example, a method of remotely configuring oneor more building system components at a building site uses a cloud-basedserver remote from the building site. One or more building systemcomponents are operably coupled with an intelligent gateway that isdisposed at the building site and is itself operably coupled with thecloud-based server via a network. The intelligent gateway may discoverthe one or more building components. The cloud-based server thenreceives information from the intelligent gateway that identifies eachof the one or more building system components. The cloud-based server isused to create a site configuration that is based at least in part onthe identified information for each of the one or more building systemcomponents. The site configuration is then downloaded from thecloud-based server to the intelligent gateway, and the intelligentgateway passes configuration information to one or more localcontrollers that control operation of the one or more building systemcomponents.

In another example, a method of providing a cloud-based buildingmanagement system for a building that does not have a centralizedsupervisory building management system controller at the building siteincludes providing an intelligent gateway at the building site that isconfigured to communication with one or more building system componentsthat are operably coupled with a local network at the building site. Acloud-based building management system is provided that communicateswith the intelligent gateway at the building site. The cloud-basedbuilding management system may include a site configuration tool.Communication is enabled between the intelligent gateway and thecloud-based building management system and is enabled between thecloud-based building management system and one or more local controllersof the building control components via the intelligent gateway. Realtime operating data that is collected by the intelligent gateway fromone or more of the building system components at the building site isreceived from the intelligent gateway by the cloud-based buildingmanagement system. In response, updated operational instructions, fordistribution to one or more of the local controllers, is provided to theintelligent gateway. The updated operational instructions modifyoperation of one or more of the building system components in responseto the real time operating data.

In another example, a non-transitory, computer-readable storage mediumhas stored thereon executable instructions. When the executableinstructions are executed by one or more processors of a cloud-basedserver, the one or more processors of the cloud-based server are causedto receive, at the cloud-based server from an intelligent gateway thatis located at a building site remote from the cloud-based server,information identifying each of the one or more building systemcomponents at the building site along with operational data for at leastsome of the one or more building system components. The one or moreprocessors of the cloud-based system are caused to generate a siteconfiguration, store the site configuration on the cloud-based server,and download the site configuration to the intelligent gateway, whereinthe intelligent gateway is configured to pass configuration informationto one or more local controllers that control operation of at least someof the one or more building system components. The one or moreprocessors of the cloud-based system are caused to subsequently makechanges to the site configuration residing on the cloud-based server andto update the site configuration stored on the intelligent gateway,wherein the intelligent gateway is configured to automatically passconfiguration updates to one or more local controllers.

The preceding summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of someof the innovative features unique to the present disclosure and is notintended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the disclosurecan be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, figures, andabstract as a whole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of thefollowing description of various examples in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative system;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method that may becarried out using the illustrative system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method that may becarried out using the illustrative system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method that may becarried out using the illustrative system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method that may becarried out using the illustrative system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method that may becarried out using the illustrative system of FIG. 1.

While the disclosure is amenable to various modifications andalternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of examplein the drawings and will be described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the intention is not to limit the disclosureto the particular examples described. On the contrary, the intention isto cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

The following description should be read with reference to the drawings,in which like elements in different drawings are numbered in likefashion. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depictexamples that are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.Although examples are illustrated for the various elements, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that many of the examples providedhave suitable alternatives that may be utilized.

All numbers are herein assumed to be modified by the term “about”,unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The recitation ofnumerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers subsumed within thatrange (e.g., 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5).

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a”, “an”, and “the” include the plural referents unless thecontent clearly dictates otherwise. As used in this specification andthe appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its senseincluding “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

It is noted that references in the specification to “an embodiment”,“some embodiments”, “other embodiments”, etc., indicate that theembodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrasesare not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with an embodiment, it is contemplated that the feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it is contemplated that the feature, structure, orcharacteristic may be applied to other embodiments whether or notexplicitly described unless clearly stated to the contrary.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative building system10. In its broadest terms, the illustrative building system 10 includesa building site 12 and a cloud-based server 14. The building site 12 maygenerally represent any building or portion of a building. In somecases, the building site 12 may be considered as representing a buildingor portion of a building that does not separately have a centralizedlocal supervisory building management system. The building site 12includes a number of building system components 16 that are individuallylabeled as 16 a, 16 b and 16 c. While a total of three building systemcomponents 16 are shown, it will be appreciated that this is merelyillustrative, as the building site 12 may include any number of buildingsystem components 16. The building system components 16 may representindividual components within a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning(HVAC) system, such as heating sources, cooling sources, ventilationsources, VAV boxes, air dampers and the like, for example. Some of thebuilding system components 16 may represent individual components withina security system, such as security sensors, control pads and the like.Some of the building system components 16 may represent individualcomponents within a lighting system, such as individual lightingsources. These are just examples.

The illustrative building site 12 includes a number of local controllers18 that are individually labeled as 18 a, 18 b, 18 c. The localcontrollers 18 may be used, for example, to control operation of thebuilding system components 16. While a total of three local controllers18 are shown, it will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative,as the building site 12 may include any number of local controllers 18.In an HVAC system, for example, a particular local controller 18 couldcontrol operation of a VAV box that is represented by one of thebuilding system components 16. The local controller 18 for thatparticular building system component 16 may control the relative damperposition within the VAV box in order to achieve a desired air flow, orperhaps to achieve a desired temperature set point, within acorresponding portion of the building site 12. While shown as having aone-to-one relationship between an individual building system componentand a corresponding individual local controller 18, this is notnecessarily true in all cases. For example, in some cases, a singlelocal controller 18 could control operation of two or more differentbuilding system components 16.

In the example shown, each of the local controllers 18 are operablycoupled with a local network 20. The local network 20 may be ahard-wired network, for example, or may in some cases be a wirelessnetwork or a combination of a hard-wired network and a wireless network.An intelligent gateway 22 may be operably coupled to the local network20, and thus may be operably coupled to each of the local controllers 18that are themselves operably coupled to the local network 20. In somecases, particularly if the building site 12 is relatively small, theremay not be a local network 20. In such cases, each of the localcontrollers 18 may instead be directly coupled to the intelligentgateway 22 via a wired or wireless connection. In some cases, the localnetwork 20 may operate in accordance with a network protocol, such asBACNET, MODBUS, LONTALK, ENOCEAN, ZIGBEE, X10 and/or any other suitablenetwork protocol.

The intelligent gateway 22 functions as an intermediary between thelocal controllers 18 and the cloud-based server 14. For example, theintelligent gateway 22 may be configured to discover those devices onthe local network 20. In some cases, the network protocol of the localnetwork 20 includes discovery commands that, for example, may be used torequest that all devices connected the local network 20 identifythemselves. In some cases, the intelligent gateway 22 may interrogateany devices it finds operably coupled to the local network 20 to obtainadditional information from those devices that further helps theintelligent gateway 22 and/or the cloud-based server 14 identify theconnected devices, such as type of building system components,functionality of the identified building system components, connectivityof the local controllers and/or building system components, types ofoperational data that is available from the local controllers and/orbuilding system components, types of alarms that are available from thelocal controllers and/or building system components, and/or any othersuitable information.

The intelligent gateway 22 may pass some or all of this information upto the cloud-based server 14 via the network 24, which may use theinformation to create a site configuration for the building site 12. Thesite configuration may then be provided from the cloud-based server 14to the intelligent gateway 22 via the network 24. The intelligentgateway 22 may be configured to provide appropriate local configurationsto each of the local controllers 18 such that each of the localcontrollers 18 are best able to control operation of the building systemcomponent(s) 16 for which they are responsible. The intelligent gateway22 may be configured to collection operational data regarding operationof the building system components 16 that is initially collected by thelocal controllers 18, and may be configured to provide the collectedoperational data to the cloud-based server 14.

In some cases, the local configuration for one of the local controllers18 may include one or more of control logic, modeling and configurationsettings for operation of the particular building system component thatthe local controller 18 is responsible for operating. The localconfiguration may represent an initial configuration (e.g. duringinitial commissioning of the building management system in the buildingsite 12), or the local configuration may represent a subsequentmodification of the original configuration.

The intelligent gateway 22 may be operably coupled to the cloud-basedserver 14 via a network 24. The network 24 may represent a singlenetwork, or a compilation of two or more distinct networks. The network24 may include the Internet. The cloud-based server 14, which mayrepresent a single computer server or a collection of computer servers,may function as a centralized building management system controller 26for the building management system. In some cases, the centralizedbuilding management system controller 26 implemented by the cloud-basedserver 14 may be considered as a replacement for an onsite centralizedbuilding management system controller. The centralized buildingmanagement system controller 26 may provide some or all of thefunctionality of an onsite centralized building management controllerwithout requiring all of the hardware that would typically be associatedwith an onsite centralized building management system controller, suchas a server, desktop or other computer hardware running centralizedbuilding management system software.

It is contemplated that the centralized building management systemcontroller 26 may, for example, receive operational data from theintelligent gateway 22, and may provide corresponding operationalcommands to the intelligent gateway 22. The intelligent gateway 22 mayreceive operational data from the local controllers 18 and upload theoperational data to the centralized building management systemcontroller 26. The intelligent gateway 22 may receive the operationalcommands from the centralized building management system controller 26,and may forward the operational commands to the appropriate localcontrollers 18.

The cloud-based server 14 may also provide a site configuration tool 28.The site configuration tool 28 may be used by a user to configure one ormore of the building site 12. In some cases, the user may be able to usethe site configuration tool 28 to connect with the intelligent gateway22 in order to configure connections between the local controllers 18and the local controllers 18 and/or building system components 16. Thismay, for example, include specifying which local controller 18 isresponsible for operations of which building system component 16. Theuser may utilize the site configuration tool 28 to configure connectionsbetween the local controllers 18 and additional components, such as butnot limited to sensors and actuators.

In some cases, the site configuration tool 28 may be configured toenable the user to perform data modeling using operational data receivedfrom the building site 12. Data modeling may be performed in order todefine, for example, spatial hierarchies, equipment models, entitymodels, relationships between spaces and connected entities, andrelationships between connected entities. The site configuration tool 28may be configured to enable the user to configure alarm limits onpoints, history collections and operational schedules for one or more ofthe local controllers 18. The site configuration tool 28 may also beconfigured to allow the user to name the local controllers 18 and/orbuilding system components 16 with a user friendly name. For example,the user may supply a name that identifies the location and/or functionof a local controller 18 and/or a building system component 16.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method 30 of remotelyconfiguring one or more building system components (such as the buildingsystem components 16) at a building site (such as the building site 12)using a cloud-based server (such as the cloud-based server 14) that isremote from the building site, where the one or more building systemcomponents are operably coupled with an intelligent gateway (such as theintelligent gateway 22) that is disposed at the building site that isitself operably coupled with the cloud-based server via a network (suchas the network 24). Information identifying each of the one or morebuilding system components may be received at the cloud-based server, asindicated at block 32. The information identifying each of the one ormore building system components may be discovered by the intelligentgateway and provided to the cloud-based server.

The cloud-based server may be used to create a site configuration thatis based at least in part on the identified information for each of theone or more building system components, as indicated at block 34. Thesite configuration may be downloaded from the cloud-based server to theintelligent gateway such that the intelligent gateway is able to passconfiguration information to one or more local controllers that controloperation of the one or more building system components.

In some cases, the site configuration is stored on the intelligentgateway such that the site configuration residing on the cloud-basedserver remote from the building site mirrors the site configurationstored on the intelligent gateway at the building site, as indicated atblock 36. When the cloud-based server updated that site configurationstored on the cloud-based server, those updates may be automaticallymirrored on the site configuration stored on the intelligent gateway.

In some cases, and as optionally indicated at block 38, the cloud-basedserver may be used to subsequently make changes to the siteconfiguration that resides on the cloud-based server. The siteconfiguration stored on the intelligent gateway may be updated with thechanges such that the intelligent gateway is able to pass the changes tothe one or more local controllers, as indicated at block 40.

In some instances, and as optionally indicated at block 42, operationaldata for at least some of the one or more building system components(sometimes from one or more of the local controllers) may be receivedfrom the intelligent gateway at the cloud-based server. The cloud-basedserver may issue one or more alarm conditions in response to thereceived operational data. The cloud-based server may, in some cases,generate one or more operational changes (e.g. control commands) inresponse to the received operational data, and the one or more generatedoperational changes may be downloaded to the intelligent gateway fordistribution to and implementation by the one or more local controllers.

As indicated above, the cloud-based server may implement a siteconfiguration tool for use by a user to help configure one or more ofthe local controllers and/or building system components when generatingthe site configuration. In some cases, the site configuration tool maybe configured to permit the user to connect with the intelligent gatewayin order to configure connections between each of the one or more localcontrollers and additional components. The site configuration tool may,in some cases, be further configured to permit the user to discoveradditional components operably coupled to a particular one of the one ormore local controllers and to configure control logic that can be usedby the particular one of the one or more local controllers to work withthe additional components such as a sensor and/or an actuator.

In some cases, the site configuration tool may be configured to permitthe user to perform data modeling using operational data for at leastsome of the one or more building system components received from theintelligent gateway in order to define, for example, one or more ofspatial hierarchies, equipment models, entity models, relationshipsbetween spaces and connected entities, and relationships betweenconnected entities. The site configuration tool may be configured topermit the user to configure one or more of alarm limits on points,history collections and operational schedules for one of the one or morelocal controllers. The site configuration tool may also be configured toallow the user to name the local controllers and/or building systemcomponents with a user friendly name. For example, the user may supply aname that identifies the location and/or function of a local controllerand/or a building system component.

In some instances, the cloud-based server may be configured to downloadsoftware to the intelligent gateway that, when executed by theintelligent gateway, enables the intelligent gateway to communicate withthe one or more of the local controllers. The cloud-based server may beconfigured to bi-directionally communicate with the intelligent gateway.In some cases, the cloud-based server may maintain a mirror image of thesite configuration between the cloud-based server and the intelligentgateway such that when a change is made to the site configuration on thecloud-based server, that change is automatically mirrored to theintelligent gateway. In some cases, the cloud-based server may maintaina mirror image of at least some operational data between the cloud-basedserver and the intelligent gateway such that when a change is made tothe operational data collected by the intelligent gateway, that changeis automatically mirrored to the cloud-based server and is makeavailable for use by the cloud-based server.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method 50 of providinga cloud-based building management system for a building that does nothave a centralized supervisory building management system controller atthe building site. In the example show, an intelligent gateway isprovided at the building site that is configured to communication withone or more building system components that are operably coupled with alocal network at the building site, as indicated at block 52. Acloud-based building management system is provided that communicateswith the intelligent gateway at the building site, as indicated at block54. Communication is enabled between the intelligent gateway and thecloud-based building management system, as indicated at block 56.Communication is enabled between the cloud-based building managementsystem and one or more local controllers of the building controlcomponents via the intelligent gateway, as indicated at block 58. Realtime operating data from one or more of the building system components(and/or local controllers) at the building site is collected by theintelligent gateway and provided to the cloud-based building managementsystem, as indicated at block 60. Updated operational instructions maybe provided to the intelligent gateway from the cloud-based buildingmanagement system, for distribution to one or more of the localcontrollers and/or building system components, that modify operation ofone or more of the building system components in response to the realtime operating data, as indicated at block 62.

In some instances, the cloud-based building management system mayinclude a site configuration tool. The site configuration tool may beconfigured to permit a user to initially commission the cloud-basedbuilding management system for operation. The site configuration toolmay be configured to enable a user to communicate with the intelligentgateway, and once in communication with the intelligent gateway,communicate with the local controllers via the intelligent gateway.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method 70 that includesa step of receiving, at a cloud-based server from an intelligent gatewaythat is located at a building site remote from the cloud-based server,information identifying each of the one or more building systemcomponents at the building site along with operational data for at leastsome of the one or more building system components, as indicated atblock 72. A site configuration may be generated and stored on thecloud-based server, as indicated at block 74. The site configuration maybe downloaded to the intelligent gateway, wherein the intelligentgateway is configured to pass configuration information to one or morelocal controllers that control operation of at least some of the one ormore building system components, as indicated at block 76. Changes maysubsequently be made to the site configuration residing on thecloud-based server, as indicated at block 78. The site configurationstored on the intelligent gateway may be updated, wherein theintelligent gateway is configured to automatically pass configurationupdates to one or more local controllers, as indicated at block 80. Insome cases, the cloud-based server may provide a site configuration toolby which a user remote from the building site is able to originallycommission the building site and/or make subsequent configurationchanges to the building site.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method 90 of remotelyconfiguring a plurality of building system components at a buildingsite. The plurality of building system components include a plurality oflocal controllers that are configured to control operation of theplurality of building system components that are operably coupled withan intelligent gateway disposed at the building site that is itselfoperably coupled with a cloud-based server via one or more networks. Insome cases, the plurality of building system components are notcontrolled by a centralized local supervisory building management systemcontroller located at the building site. In some instances, theintelligent gateway may be operatively coupled to the plurality ofbuilding system components with no intervening centralized supervisorybuilding management system controller.

Information identifying the plurality of building system componentsdiscovered by the intelligent gateway is received at the cloud-basedserver, as indicated at block 92. The cloud-based server uses thereceived identifying information for the plurality of building systemcomponents to generate a site configuration for the building site thatincludes respective local configurations for two or more of the localcontrollers, as indicated at block 94. The site configuration isdownloaded from the cloud-based server to the intelligent gateway,wherein the intelligent gateway is configured to download the localconfigurations of the site configuration to each of the respective twoor more local controllers, as indicated at block 96.

In some instances, the site configuration defines one or more of controllogic, modeling and configuration settings for the building site. Insome instances, the site configuration is configured to originallycommission the building site. Alternatively, or in addition, the siteconfiguration may be configured to update a previously commissionedbuilding site. The local configurations may define one or more ofcontrol logic, modeling and configuration settings for respective onesof the two or more local controllers.

In some cases, as optionally indicated at block 98, the intelligentgateway may collect operational data associated with the building site.This may include live-operational data. The cloud-based server mayreceive at least some of the collected operational data from theintelligent gateway, as optionally indicated at block 100. Thecloud-based server may issue one or more alarm conditions in response tothe collected operational data, as optionally indicated at block 102. Insome cases, the cloud-based server may generate one or more changes tothe site configuration in response to the received operational data,wherein the changes to the site configuration are implemented within thesite configuration residing on the cloud-based server and aresubsequently downloaded to the intelligent gateway for distribution toone or more local controllers.

In some instances, the cloud-based server may maintain a model, aschedule and an event log, and the intelligent gateway may maintain amodel, a schedule and an event log. The event log may log eventsreceived from the plurality of local controllers. Changes to the modeland/or the schedule by the cloud-based server may be automaticallydownloaded (e.g. mirrored) to the intelligent gateway. Likewise, updatesto the event log of the intelligent gateway may be automaticallyuploaded (e.g. mirrored) to the cloud-based server. In some cases, thecloud-based server may be configured to receive user input from trainedpersonnel to generate the site configuration for the building site. Insome instances, the cloud-based server may implement a siteconfiguration tool as described above.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method 110 of remotelyconfiguring a plurality of building system components at a buildingsite. The plurality of building system components include a plurality oflocal controllers that are configured to control operation of theplurality of building system components that are operably coupled withan intelligent gateway disposed at the building site that is itselfoperably coupled with a cloud-based server via one or more networks.Information identifying the plurality of building system componentsdiscovered by the intelligent gateway is received at the cloud-basedserver, as indicated at block 92. The cloud-based server uses thereceived identifying information for the plurality of building systemcomponents to generate a site configuration for the building site thatincludes respective local configurations for each of two or more of thelocal controllers, as indicated at block 94. The site configuration isdownloaded from the cloud-based server to the intelligent gateway,wherein the intelligent gateway is configured to download the localconfigurations of the site configuration to each of the respective twoor more local controllers, as indicated at block 96.

In some cases, as optionally indicated at block 98, the intelligentgateway may collect operational data associated with the building site.The cloud-based server may receive at least some of the collectedoperational data from the intelligent gateway, as optionally indicatedat block 100. The cloud-based server may update the site configurationbased at least in part on the received operational data, resulting in anupdated site configuration with one or more updated localconfigurations, as optionally indicated at block 112. The updated siteconfiguration may be downloaded (e.g. mirrored) from the cloud-basedserver to the intelligent gateway, as optionally indicated at block 114.The intelligent gateway may download the one or more updated localconfigurations of the updated site configuration to the respective localcontrollers, as optionally indicated at block 116. In some cases, theupdated site configuration may include one or more of updated controllogic, updating modeling and/or updated configuration settings. In somecases, the cloud-based server may update the site configuration usingmachine learning.

Having thus described several illustrative embodiments of the presentdisclosure, those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that yetother embodiments may be made and used within the scope of the claimshereto attached. It will be understood, however, that this disclosureis, in many respects, only illustrative. Changes may be made in details,particularly in matters of shape, size, arrangement of parts, andexclusion and order of steps, without exceeding the scope of thedisclosure. The disclosure's scope is, of course, defined in thelanguage in which the appended claims are expressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of remotely configuring one or more building system components at a building site using a cloud-based server remote from the building site, the one or more building system components operably coupled with an intelligent gateway disposed at the building site that is itself operably coupled with the cloud-based server via a network, the method comprising: receiving, at the cloud-based server from the intelligent gateway, information identifying each of the one or more building system components; using the cloud-based server to create a site configuration residing on the cloud-based server that is based at least in part on the identified information for each of the one or more building system components; and downloading the site configuration from the cloud-based server to the intelligent gateway such that the intelligent gateway is able to pass configuration information to one or more local controllers that control operation of the one or more building system components.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using the cloud-based server to subsequently make changes to the site configuration residing on the cloud-based server; and updating the site configuration stored on the intelligent gateway with the changes such that the intelligent gateway is able to pass the changes to the one or more local controllers.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying each of the one or more building system components is discovered by the intelligent gateway.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the cloud-based server from the intelligent gateway, operational data for at least some of the one or more building system components.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the cloud-based server issues one or more alarm conditions in response to the received operational data.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the cloud-based server generates one or more operational changes in response to the received operational data, and the one or more generated operational changes are implemented within the site configuration residing on the cloud-based server and are subsequently downloaded to the intelligent gateway for distribution to the one or more local controllers.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud-based server implements a site configuration tool for use by a user to help configure one or more of the local controllers when generating the site configuration.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the site configuration tool is configured to permit the user to connect with the intelligent gateway in order to configure connections between each of the one or more local controllers and additional components.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the site configuration tool is further configured to permit the user to discover additional components operably coupled to a particular one of the one or more local controllers and to configure control logic that can be used by the particular one of the one or more local controllers to work with the additional components.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the additional components include one or more of a sensor and an actuator.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the site configuration tool is further configured to permit the user to perform data modeling using operational data for at least some of the one or more building system components received from the intelligent gateway in order to define one or more of: spatial hierarchies, equipment models, entity models, relationships between spaces and connected entities, and relationships between connected entities.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the site configuration tool is further configured to permit the user to configure one or more of: alarm limits on points, history collections and operational schedules for one of the one or more local controllers.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud-based server is configured to download software to the intelligent gateway that, when executed by the intelligent gateway, enables the intelligent gateway to communicate with the one or more of the local controllers.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud-based server is configured to bi-directionally communicate with the intelligent gateway and to: maintain a mirror image of the site configuration between the cloud-based server and the intelligent gateway such that when a change is made to the site configuration on the cloud-based server, that change is automatically mirrored to the intelligent gateway; and maintain a mirror image of at least some operational data between the cloud-based server and the intelligent gateway such that when a change is made to the operational data collected by the intelligent gateway, that change is automatically mirrored to the cloud-based server.
 15. A method of providing a cloud-based building management system for a building that does not have a centralized supervisory building management system controller at the building site, the method comprising: providing an intelligent gateway at the building site, the intelligent gateway configured to communication with one or more building system components that are operably coupled with a local network at the building site; providing a cloud-based building management system that communicates with the intelligent gateway at the building site; enabling communication between the intelligent gateway and the cloud-based building management system; enabling communication between the cloud-based building management system and one or more local controllers of the building control components via the intelligent gateway; receiving, by the cloud-based building management system from the intelligent gateway, real time operating data collected by the intelligent gateway from one or more of the building system components at the building site; and providing updated operational instructions to the intelligent gateway, for distribution to one or more of the local controllers, that modify operation of one or more of the building system components in response to the real time operating data.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the cloud-based building management system includes a site configuration tool.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the site configuration tool is configured to permit a user initially commission the cloud-based building management system for operation.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the site configuration tool is configured to enable user to communicate with the intelligent gateway, and once in communication with the intelligent gateway, communicate with the local controllers via the intelligent gateway.
 19. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a cloud-based server, cause the one or more processors of the cloud-based server to: receive, at the cloud-based server from an intelligent gateway that is located at a building site remote from the cloud-based server, information identifying each of the one or more building system components at the building site along with operational data for at least some of the one or more building system components; generate a site configuration and store the site configuration on the cloud-based server; download the site configuration to the intelligent gateway, wherein the intelligent gateway is configured to pass configuration information to one or more local controllers that control operation of at least some of the one or more building system components; subsequently make changes to the site configuration residing on the cloud-based server; and update the site configuration stored on the intelligent gateway, wherein the intelligent gateway is configured to automatically pass configuration updates to one or more local controllers.
 20. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the executable instructions cause the cloud-based server to provide a site configuration tool by which a user remote from the building site is able to originally commission the building site. 